Can believers eat fat or blood?

Leviticus 3:17 says, 'This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.' Does this prohibition still apply in today? Thanks.

Answer:

Leviticus 3:16 says, 'All the fat is the LORD's.' And Leviticus 3:13 says, 'Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.' The priests could eat certain designated portions of the sacrifices, but they were not to eat the fat or the blood. These belonged to the Lord.

We believe the deeper meaning of this prohibition is that we should not take what belongs to the Lord and consume it in our own self interests. Leviticus 17:11 teaches that 'the life of the flesh is in the blood.' The pagan worshipers surrounding Israel were notorious for drinking blood as part of their ritual. But not the Israelites. Today, unbelievers consume their lives primarily in their own self interests. They are, in effect, drinking their own blood. But Jesus has told us, 'Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it' (Matthew 16:25). We are to recognize that our blood and our lives belong to God, and we must present our bodies to Him a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is our reasonable service.